JARED BAYLIS
CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR
Site:
Kelowna – Kelowna General Hospital
Jared Baylis, Clinical Assistant Professor with UBC’s Department of Emergency Medicine.
Can you share a little bit about your educational background and journey, and how you got to where you are today?
My post-secondary educational journey began at Okanagan University College (now UBC Okanagan) in their Bachelor of Business Administration program. I completed my first year before realizing that, while I enjoyed my business courses and they’ve come in handy more than once, it was not the career path I was looking for. I switched into the Bachelor of Science program and transferred to UBC Okanagan where I completed my Bachelor of Science in Microbiology including a one year exchange at the University of Sydney in Australia.
Following that, I received my MD from Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario and was fortunate enough to match to Emergency Medicine at UBC based at the Interior Site in Kelowna, BC. I received my FRCPC designation in Emergency Medicine after completing residency which included a one year fellowship in Simulation and Leadership in Vancouver, BC.
What inspired you to work in emergency medicine?
This is such an interesting question when I reflect back on what inspired me originally and what continues to inspire me now. When I was exploring various career options within medicine, I found myself drawn to just about everything. There were aspects of surgery I enjoyed, parts of community pediatric care that were rewarding, and the complex clinical reasoning in internal medicine was stimulating. As I continued through clerkship, emergency medicine became the logical choice where I could combine a bit of everything in a fast-paced and ever-changing environment.
Beyond that, emergency medicine is a team sport that relies on everyone from nurses to RTs to porters to cleaning staff to MDs and more to function well together in providing for our patients, which I really enjoy. More and more as our health care system evolves, I find it satisfying to care for each individual patient where they’re at whether it be an acute resuscitation for a major medical problem to the patient that feels scared and didn’t know where else to go for their increasing suicidal thoughts. We truly see it all in EM and we provide care at the front line where our door is always open regardless of how the system is functioning.
What impact would you like to see your work have on patients, communities, and society at large?
I think of emergency medicine as a grassroots specialty in the sense that we benefit society as a whole at the individual patient level. We are the place that people go when they are in need of health care of any kind on an emergent basis. It is often said that anyone in the emergency department as a patient is likely having one of the worst days of their life otherwise they wouldn’t be there. I hope we change those individual’s lives for the better in the care we provide.
At a community level, this care provides a safety net in that the community can rest assured that if care is needed, their local emergency department is there to provide it regardless of social status, race, gender, religion, etc. And as a society at large I believe the emergency department is a place where systemic issues first arise, where solutions are sought/studied, and where change is first felt.
What excites you most about your work? What are you most proud of?
Like most emerg docs, I find a successful acute resuscitation to be exciting and meaningful. However, this is only a small part of what we do. The more day-to-day occurrences that excite me are usually centred around those times when somebody’s life is improved because of the care you provide, empathy you express, or the kindness you show. I am most proud of our entire emergency department, and all the different professions represented within it, for continuing to provide excellent care during difficult times. The ED team is truly inspirational!
What is one piece of advice that you would give to current trainees?
Your primary goal during residency should be becoming an excellent emergency physician. Opportunities will fly at you from nearly day one to start projects, help with teaching, do conference presentations, etc. These are all fantastic opportunities and should be considered. However, each opportunity should be thought about carefully and pursued only if time allows, if it will be valuable to you, if it’s something you’re passionate about, and if it still allows you to achieve the primary goal. It is very easy to find your calendar full with no time for self-care and balance if one isn’t intentional about how they spend their time.
When you’re not working, where can we find you?
You can find me climbing, trail running, hiking, mountain biking, and traveling with my family either in our van or somewhere farther.
